Has anyone dealt successfully with Cervical stenosis without surgery?

@dlydailyhope

I had asked my PCP for a referral to an orthopedic surgeon and he told me no. I didn't ask for an orthopedic doctor so maybe that's why? I can get an MRI if I want, it's been ordered. I was hoping not to need to have to go through it but if there's a chance of nerve damage then it might be wise. It would be good to be able to see an orthopedic doctor who could review the x-rays and make the determination if he thinks it would be wise to move forward with the MRI. I will ask my PCP again.

@dlydailyhope

I just found the response from my PCP. Any thoughts?

You are jumping a few steps ahead with your request to see an ortho surgeon to discuss about foraminal stenosis in the neck spine. First and foremost, Kaiser ortho and local ortho do not see any issue with spines so a referral to ortho would be incorrect referral and waste of your time. The cause of cervical foraminal stenosis is osteoarthritis, which is evident on your neck spine X-rays. The more accurate question you may be asking is that is this foraminal stenosis (narrowing) causes any impression on the associated nerve root and correlates with your pain. In order to assess this further, then we need to order cervical spine MRI next. Cervical spine MRI is needed to determine which service within Kaiser Spine Program is most appropriate to address your pain. Therefore, I have ordered a neck spine MRI for you to determine if there is nerve root involvement. If no nerve root involvement, then there is no good option that Kaiser Spine Program can offer you.

@isabelle7
I would get the MRI and then see what they suggest based on the findings. They may recommend starting with non-surgical treatments (like pain injections) but it may show that surgery is needed to remove bone spurs, address any disc issues and make more space for nerves/nerve roots/spinal cord. Good luck!

@dlydailyhope

Thanks for the advice. I’ll get it scheduled and hope for the best. My chiropractor said there’s a relatively non-invasive surgery that requires only a couple weeks of recovery time to open the space (if I remember correctly.) I guess the only way to know is to take that first step and have the MRI. I’ve always been scared to have one. Also I’m allergic to iodine. Do all MRI’s require dye?

@isabelle7
I understand about being afraid of having a MRI. You are in a confined space (but there are some that are considered “open”) and the machine makes odd noises. I have had so many of them I just relax and listen to the music they play for you in the headphones protecting your ears. You do need to stay still through the test and not move at all. For your cervical spine, you may not need to be fully in the machine and they may want to do with and without contrast since it helps them see the bone/soft tissues better. The contrast material is usually gadolinium which does not contain iodine. You will just want to let them know you are allergic to iodine.

After my ACDF surgery on C5-C6 (they went in through the front to remove bone spurs and my disc and then made a “cement” using some of my own bone from the spurs to fuse my vertebrae together before putting a titanium cage around it to support it). I worked remotely at the time and was able to work on my laptop in bed 2 days after surgery. I wasn’t on the pain medication for long and I wore a soft collar only a short time (too long weakens the neck muscles). I was up moving around after surgery to prevent blood clots. My daily headaches and neck/shoulder/upper back pain was gone after the surgery. I then noticed the heaviness in legs (like wearing cement boots) was gone and I could better control my bladder. I also noticed my arms/hands were better and not constantly dropping things plus handwriting improved. My swallowing/choking and speaking problem reduced, too, and not sure if due to cervical spine plus 2.5 cm nodule on my thyroid which I also had removed (with my right thyroid lobe) 9 months later. I actually saw the nodule on my CT scan when in the patient portal paying a bill for my spine surgery!

Make sure you get a surgeon (if needed) that you feel comfortable with, has good communication skills/patience/respect when answering your questions, and they have excellent ratings online.

See if you can take a sedative or something to relax you before the MRI if they allow it and think it would help you. The MRI staff should be able to advise you since I’m sure they get many that get nervous getting the test.

Good luck! 🙂

@dlydailyhope

Thank you for all of that information! It was really helpful and put my mind at ease about the MRI. I think I should be OK knowing I can listen to music. That will definitely make it better.

I too had a thyroid nodule about that size that they biopsied and said was OK. So they never removed it. I assume it's going to show up on the MRI as well. Too bad they couldn't have removed the nodule at the same time as the cervical surgery.

My physical therapist had back surgery and has highly recommended his surgeon. So I'll check him out first if surgery ends up being the way to go.

I was reading today that lots of people can live with cervical stenosis and can manage it through healthy eating, losing weight and physical therapy (exercise.) I found this info on Mayo Clinic discussing stenosis in different areas of the spine.
https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/mayo-clinic-q-and-a-nonsurgical-treatments-may-decrease-pain-from-spinal-stenosis/
I'm really hoping that since I don't have any of the serious symptoms we might be able to go this route. But at this point I need to know so I'm not always worrying about it, and so I know what I should and shouldn't be doing if we do go the non-surgical route.

I really appreciate all the info you've shared with me. Also, my doctor prescribed a drug to take before the MRI because I mentioned they make me nervous. But I think I'll just handle it without taking the drug. I'm sure I'll be just fine.

Isebelle
I also am claustrifobic but find the open MRI very comfortable (the one you sit in)
Minimally invasive surgery is wonderful. Only use a neurosurgeon not an orthopedic surgeon. Just had a hemilamenotomy last Thursday , off pain meds on day 3 and walked 5 miles yesterday day 5.
Find a neurosurgeon they are much more highly trained at minimal invasive procedures, that’s why they are called brain surgeons a completely higher level of training and certification.
Tony
Good luck, don’t settle get what you want. Had to see 7 orthopods and 2 neurosurgeons to get the right procedure.

I too have suffered with cervical issues for many years. Due to an auto accident when I was seven, I’m 67 now and work related, holding my head at an angle over a drafting table for my career. If you are young one thing to consider is your posture do you look at your phone a lot, so you can have stenosis, cervical stenosis and have zero reason for surgery. With the doctors look at is there a reason for surgery so that is why you need x-rays and MRIs. You also need to go to a variety of doctors I had Botox in my trapezius levator scapula One injected injection lasted 10 years then the following injections not so much. What the doctors look at is whether you have numbness and radiating pains I really didn’t. I had a ton of stenosis, but you can have stenosis as long as you don’t have nerve damage like numbness , then nobody wants to operate on you and there are plenty of things to do like radio frequency ablation epidurals, and cortical steroid injections. There’s also strengthening muscles by getting good physical therapy. Chiropractic is just temporary pain relief. I don’t recommend that I recommend kind of fixing your problem as much as you can with yoga or physical exercise before you need to go to the point of surgery , when my surgery was eventually done last year, my bones fell apart in their hands, so what was supposed to be a great surgery and was for one week turned out to be a nightmare with a second surgery that’s been a year of recuperation yes some of the pain is gone and yes, the surgery was done at a moment in time where I couldn’t function anymore . However, I can tell you that it didn’t solve my pain so now I go for deep myofascial tissue release twice a month and I’ve gone back for Botox, but I don’t know if I’m gonna continue that out my problem. Also muscles and connective tissue that go into a spasm and stay there , so deep tissue massage kind of fixes that. I’m still working at 67 so I just pay attention to my posture and I’m much better off therefore, what I recommend is that you see a variety of doctors both within your system and outside and have them talk to each other and educate yourself and don’t do anything drastic until , things are getting numb and they don’t relieve themselves. Numbness is the presentation that the surgeons want before they do surgery. Good luck.

I’m sorry read through and create your own periods “.” because I’m dictating and it seem to have created a lot of run-on sentences - I apologize!

Have had many MRIs. Go to a newer machine 3T. Gets better pictures. New machines so much better usually don't need contrast anymore. Best tip. Close your eyes b4 u go in and don't open them the whole time. If you don't open them you don't know to become anxious. Don't open them again until you are fully out. Works for me.